concrete

There is something that screams authenticity when it comes to modern minimalistic design. As some of you may know, I am a what some would call massive fan of modern minimalistic design, when I comes to interiors. Give me white walls and a polished concrete floor any day! This week Sunday Sanctuary is located in South London,…

Architects Smiljan Radić, Eduardo Castillo and Danilo Lazcano teamed up on this community hub in San Pedro de La Paz, Chile, featuring a bright red fire station, raised black walkway and a playground. Radić, Castillo and Lazcano won a contest to design the 15,050-square-metre masterplan for the Boca Sur neighbourhood. The competition titled I Love my Suburb called for a

The curators of MoMA’s recently opened exhibition about the architecture of former Yugoslavia have chosen their favourite pieces from the show, including Kenzo Tange’s masterplan for Skopje and a giant war monument in Croatia. Towards a Concrete Utopia: Architecture of Yugoslavia, 1948-1980 presents examples of the impressive buildings and ambitious masterplans created during the socialist

Passengers arriving at the João Luís Carrilho da Graça-designed cruise terminal in Lisbon can use a series of ramps to reach a rooftop viewing platform that offers a panorama of the Tagus river. João Luís Carrilho da Graça won an international competition in 2010 to oversee the project for a terminal building in the Portuguese

This simple concrete temple in a village near the Indian city of Pune is topped with a pyramidal roof and incorporates a channel that allows ceremonial holy water to flow out into its lush surroundings. Designed by locally based Karan Darda Architects, the temple is located within an orchard of chikoo trees in a traditional farming region

East of the Balinese capital Denpasar is a village called Buwit, here, amidst dense rainforest overlooking a river stands Word of Mouth House’s ‘Chameleon Villa’. A multi-level home where the jungle has been allowed to take over in the most artful way….

In Costa Esmerelda, a holiday area overlooking the South Atlantic Ocean in Argentina, architect Luciano Kruk and his partner Ekaterina Künzel designed ‘Casa L4’—a concrete home set amongst a grove of maritime pines.
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In the first exhibition of its kind in America, ‘Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980’ explores the push and pull of capitalist West and socialist East through the prism of architecture in the former republic.
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Santorini rises from a volcanic caldera, the largest island of a small archipelago off the coast of Greece. Here, Kapsimalis Architects has proposed ‘House in Finikia’, a man-made monolith that draws its inspiration from volcanic stone.
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Buenos Aires-based studio Besonías Almeida Arquitectos has completed a holiday home in a seaside resort south of the Argentinian capital, with walls and overhanging roofs. Impressed by their previous work, the client tasked the studio led by architects María Victoria Besonías and Guillermo de Almeida with designing a property in the coastal Costa Esmerelda resort that had

Fouad Samara Architects has completed ‘Modulofts’, a wondrous residential complex in Beirut, Lebanon, featuring large steel panels that act as sliding walls in a Rubik’s Cube-esque reconfiguration of each loft’s layout.
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For their latest residential project, Vietnamese architecture firm Toob Studios has impressively demonstrated that it’s not about how much space we are given in life, it’s what we do with it that counts. The ‘5 x 12 House’ is located in Trâu Quỳ, just …

This monolithic concrete house in an affluent area of Porto presents a largely closed and robust facade to the street, but opens up on its side towards its garden. Architect João Vieira de Campos designed the building as a single-family home that replaces a derelict villa in the Serralves neighbourhood to the west of Porto’s city

Trees grow through holes in the concrete floors and ceilings of the Shen Shen Garden office in Shanghai, which was designed to preserve the site’s natural features. Local studio Yushe Design developed the project as a workspace away from the bustle of downtown Shanghai. Located in a suburb of the Chinese city, the building combines offices

In this exclusive Dezeen movie, Mexican architect Frida Escobedo explains why she used stacks of roofing tiles to create this year’s Serpentine Pavilion. Escobedo’s pavilion, which was unveiled outside the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, London, this week, is a secluded courtyard framed by latticed walls made from grey concrete roofing tiles. “We wanted to

Mexican architect Frida Escobedo has completed this year’s Serpentine Pavilion, a secluded courtyard framed by decorative, latticed walls. Located outside the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, London, Escobedo’s pavilion features walls of concrete roofing tiles, a curving mirrored ceiling and a shallow, triangular pool of water. The aim was to reference the courtyards that are a

In the midst of a forest in a quiet mountain range near Seoul is a house cast from rough-cut concrete. Designed by Nameless Architecture, the ‘Aele House’ is an ode to the flexible nature of architectural design.
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Beside Mexico’s famous pipeline, just beyond the surf town of Puerto Escondido is ‘Casa Tiny’. Designed by Aranza de Ariño, this idyllic concrete dwelling sits nestled amongst dense vegetation just a short stroll from the beach.
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Eindhoven University of Technology has announced plans to 3D print a series of concrete houses that will be made available to rent. In what is being described as a world first, the Dutch university is set to build five 3D-printed houses over the next five years, which will all become rental properties. “The project is

Curved board-marked concrete walls wrap around the front of this residence in Quito, Ecuador, which local firm Estudio Felipe Escudero modelled on “the physical form of a hug”. Casa Roca is located in a residential neighbourhood in Ecuador’s capital city that Estudio Felipe Escudero (EFE), a studio led by architect Felipe Escudero, describes as “full

Designed by WHBC Architects, the ‘Chempenai House’ in Kuala Lumpur is a lesson in material constraint. Though extravagant in size, the spectacle of this concrete home is its consideration of the surrounding Malaysian environment, and its rejectio…

Japanese studio Akihisa Hirata Architecture Office has completed a mixed-use building in Tokyo featuring a jumbled composition of concrete rooms that create spaces for small balconies and gardens. The firm headed by architect Akihisa Hirata designed the building in Tokyo’s Toshima district to provide accommodation for a multi-generational family, alongside gallery spaces and offices. The design of

Monolithic concrete steps evocative of ancient Aztec temples surround open-air living spaces and gardens at the heart of this holiday home in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. French architect Ludwig Godefroy created the property as a weekend home for a client who wanted to escape from the Mexico City to the tranquility of Zicatela Beach.

This weeks Sunday Sanctuary vast expanse of desert terrain is making me feel like a mid year holiday should be on the books, a holiday that evokes a sense of land before time. Located in Utah, Amangiri is a paean to architectural elegance, with low set rectangular buildings matching the colours and textures of the…

The bedroom overlooks the architect’s garden from the desk, framed by floor to ceiling curtain accented a Fritz Hansen desk lamp. Owner by a Spanish/Danish couple living in Berlin, this home has all the necessary elements to to achieve that soft minim…

Large eaves and a metal-mesh canopy that will eventually be covered with plants help to shade the interiors of this concrete house on Japan’s Okinawa Island. Osaka-based studio Ryuichi Ashizawa Architects designed the house called Ma of Wind for a plot in a residential area southwest of the 14th-century Shuri Castle, on the island in the

Ten glazed sections divided by board-marked concrete walls are lined up to form this long Mexican house, designed by architect Laurent Herbiet. Herbiet, who runs the Mexico City-based studio Hrbt, completed AT House at the top of a hill in Oaxtepec – a town in the north of Mexican state Morelos – for a couple

Nine dark-coloured blocks circle a forest clearing that acts as a courtyard for this home by Mexican architects Fernanda Canales and Claudia Rodríguez. Canales and Rodríguez collaborated on the 6,500-square-foot (604-square-metre) Casa Bruma project, which serves a holiday home for a young family. The house comprises cuboid units of varying heights, each accommodating a different

While bright and clean interiors will always draw me in, every so often I come across a darker but still minimal interior that almost persuades me to go over to the dark side. With flat black walls, black kitchen doors, concrete surfaces and deep dark …

If you’re love gardening and/or houseplants, what would be better than a garden of green in the middle of your home? This residence in Melbourne, Australia has just that, a gland encases courtyard dividing the bedroom and living spaces of the home. Ritz&Ghougassian are the architects responsible for the design and extension, which include exposed concrete brickwork walls and eucalyptus-fronted joinery.

Photos by Tom Blachford.

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Chilean firm Felipe Assadi Arquitectos has created a long concrete house for a sloping site overlooking the Pacific Ocean, with extended portions forming covered balconies and a perpendicular swimming pool. House H occupies a site in Zapallar, and has a stepped path leading down to a nearby beach. Its stark, elongated form creates a strong contrast against

Miami-based Oppenheim Architecture and Design has built offices in the city for an Italian construction company, with rectangular concrete volumes offset from one other and covered balconies extending from the units. Spanning 20,000 square feet (6,100 square metres), the new GLF Headquarters was designed by the local firm for a site along the Miami River. Comprising

Engineers from WSP are working with architects at Innovation Imperative to create a carbon neutral modular hotel made from groups of concrete pods. Created by engineering firm WSP’s new in-house design studio and David Ajasa-Adekunle’s architecture practice, the project called Tetra Hotel is currently at proof-of-concept stage. Each of the futuristic faceted pods, which appear to teeter

Architect Luciano Kruk’s latest board-marked concrete holiday home on the Argentinian coast has walls wrapped in glazing and blackened wood. Equestrian House is a holiday residence located in Costa Esmeralda, a picturesque stretch of coastline 250 miles (400 kilometres) south of Buenos Aires. The resort features a number of board-marked concrete residences designed by Kruk’s

Dezeen is giving away five copies of a map that pinpoints Chicago’s concrete buildings, including iconic brutalist structures and university projects, in this competition. Concrete Chicago Map is a double-sided guide that details of over 50 concrete buildings and structures in the city’s Downtown and surrounding areas. The foldout design has a map on one

Architecture studio SO designed this bunker-like concrete house in the Thai city of Chiang Mai around a pathway that provides locals a shortcut between two roads. The studio, which is also known as Situation-based Operation, designed the house for a client who had owned the plot for several years but had left it unused. Over

Architecture studio Raum designed this house in the South Korean city of Yangsan as a cluster of clean-lined, interconnected blocks that can adapt to the changing needs of a young family. South Korean studio Raum created the Yangsan Eorinjip property for a couple who wanted a home flexible enough to evolve as their child grows

Architects Mauricio Pezo and Sofia von Ellrichshausen have completed a tall and narrow concrete house, which perches on a cliff facing a sea-lion reserve on Chile’s Coliumo Peninsula. Pezo and Von Ellrichshausen’s studio, which is based in the nearby city of Concepción, designed Loba house for a plot facing down the cliff. From its position on

A concrete and glass block projects out over the entrance of this red brick building in Brussels, which has been converted into offices for social services by WAW Architects. The local architecture studio restored and redesigned the former orphanage, which was built in 1901, to create an office space for social services organisation OCMW Halle. Period features, such as

Richard Seifert’s celebrated Centre Point tower in London has been restored and converted into apartments by architecture firm Conran and Partners. London-based Conran and Partners has completely overhauled the Grade-II listed white-concrete high-rise, which was completed by Seifert in 1966, at the intersection of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. The 36-storey tower previously contained offices,

New photographs by Yueqi Jazzy Li capture the interplay of natural light on the raw concrete walls in this sculpture museum by Jiakun Architects in Chengdu, China. The New York-based architect and photographer travelled to the province of Sichuan to shoot the Luyeyuan Buddhist Sculpture Museum, which completed in 2002. “Nearly 16 years later, it

Brazilian architect Felipe Rodrigues has created a split-level house, with a glazed living area between thin concrete planes that project from a hillside. Moenda House is situated on an expansive 215,278 square feet (20,000 square metres) of property in southeastern Brazil, with views of the Mantiqueira mountains. The land was subdivided from an existing farm, with over

The architectural practice of Ricardo Bofill weaves spatial design with urban planning in colorful, Escher-esque structures. His most exciting project perhaps remains that of his home and office, a converted cement factory in Barcelona.
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New York-based MB Architecture has clad a gabled concrete house and matching garage in the Hamptons in pale timber to give the simple volumes a rustic look. House in Amagansett is a two-storey residence surrounded by grassy areas and trees, in the hamlet of the same name on Long Island’s south shore. The home is

Architecture studio Barclay & Crousse has completed a board-marked concrete university building in the Peruvian city of Piura. The Lima-based practice, which is led by Woman Architect of the Year Sandra Barclay and Jean Pierre Crousse, designed the building for the Universidad de Piura’s campus, a 1,000 kilometres north of the Peruvian capital. The design responds

A faceted concrete shell punctuated by openings of varying sizes wraps around this house in Kuala Lumpur, which contains pockets of interior landscaping that create private outdoor spaces. Local studio Formzero designed The Window House for a hillside site on the edge of a forest overlooking the Malaysian capital. The architects’ initial thoughts were to

A continuous flight of steps covers the roof of this home in Chile by Max Núñez Arquitectos, which runs parallel to the site’s steep slope down to the Pacific Ocean. Casa Ghat is located in the region of Cachagua, roughly two hours north of Santiago. It is sited on a dramatic incline overlooking the ocean,

American architect John Lautner was fascinated with shapes and structures; his work defined by a new style of modernism that sought to merge architectural geometry with nature. Of this style, there is perhaps no finer example than the ‘Arthur Elr…

Orthogonal concrete planes filled in with glass form this three-storey residence in a hilly area outside Guatemala’s capital, by local firm Paz Arquitectura. Aylvalaan House is based on stacked rectangular volumes embedded into a slope near Guatemala City, with the majority of its front facade covered in floor-to-ceiling windows. The main floor of the home is situated

OMA has added another building to its Fondazione Prada complex in Milan, a white concrete tower that will showcase a collection of contemporary art. Torre is the last of three new buildings that Rem Koolhaas’ firm has added to the former distillery compound where the Fondazione Prada art centre is located, in Largo Isarco, southern Milan. Koolhaas and colleagues Chris van

Portuguese studio Promontorio Architects has completed the new Embassy of Egypt in Lisbon, which features robust concrete walls covered with bas-relief patterns that recall traditional Egyptian motifs. The embassy is located in Lisbon’s affluent Restelo district, where many of the neighbouring detached villas from the 1940s and 1950s have been converted for diplomatic use. With

Architecture office Wernerfield has created a rectangular pool house with glazed walls and a green roof for a hilly estate in northern Texas. The PTX1 Cabana is located on a pastoral property in Palmer, a town just south of Dallas. The clients requested a swimming pool and cabana that could serve as a “remote” entertainment

Brazilian studio Terra e Tuma has designed a slender urban home with concrete block walls and rooms organised around two interior courtyards. The Mipibu House occupies a long, slender lot in a dense neighbourhood in São Paulo. The dwelling is surrounded by low-scale dwellings with red-tiled roofs. “This house represents a very common situation in

Continuing our series celebrating Palm Springs Modernism Week, we’re examining Hope Residence, the home that American architect John Lautner designed for comedian Bob Hope to resemble a volcano. Located in Palm Springs’ Southridge community, Hope Residence was completed in 1980 as the second home of the comedian – a popular film and television star at the

Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira has completed a church in the Brittany region of France, featuring a sculptural composition of intersecting concrete forms. The church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande is the first to be built in Brittany in the 21st century, and was designed by Siza’s Porto-based office to complement its setting in a residential neighbourhood south

O’Donnell + Tuomey has unveiled plans for three interconnected, angular, red brick opera houses in Shanghai, on the site of the 2010 Expo. The Dublin-based architecture practice has designed three performance venues, each with planted gardens placed on their angled rooftops to create an undulating park for visitors. Conceived as a “city of opera”, the 1,800-seat opera hall,

Stacked white, concrete volumes conceal the vibrant red, pink and orange interior of this theatre in the former mining town of Freyming-Merlebach by Dominique Coulon & Associés. The French architects designed the Théodore Gouvy theatre as part of a drive to regenerate the town in north east France, which has seen high levels of unemployment since the area’s

After New York’s MoMA announced its exhibition focused on Yugoslavia’s concrete architecture, we’ve refreshed our Pinterest board dedicated to the material, with projects such as a micro hostel in Beijing and a seaside concert hall on the Gulf of Mexic…

New York’s Museum of Modern Art will examine former Yugoslavia’s impressive concrete structures and bold urban planning visions created during its communist years, in an exhibition opening this summer. Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948–1980, will present examples of the distinct style that emerged in the state, which occupied the Balkans region of

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Minimal Blogs is a collective of the most interesting minimalistic blogs on Fashion, Interior and Design. A concept by Sophia Molen - also founder of fashion bloggers platform Blog and The City and personal blog Tao of Sophia. Contact us at info@minimalblogs.com.